Sleeping qae



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. POST. SLEEPING OAR.

N. PETERS. Phmuiflhngraphar. Wnablnglon. D Cv (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W; POST.

SLEEPING CAR. 7 I No. 368,005. Patented Aug. 9, 1.887.

. v (gm/00141306 witnesses N. PUEHS. Phmol-llhompher, Wahinglon, D. C.

Y UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

.JOHN rosrr, on EW YORK, N. Y.

SLEEPING-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part 'of Letters Patent No. 368,005, dated August 9, 1887.

' Application filed November 24, 1886. Serial No. 219,803. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. POST, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleeping-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the said invention.

This invention relates to that class of railway-cars known as sleeping-cars, and which are in common use on alllonglines of railway travel, for the accommodation of such passengers as may desire to continueon their route during the night, and are provided with beds or berths capable of being removed and replaced by seats arranged as in ordinary day coaches.

A further object of the traveling public in using these cars consists in the fact that they are generally of much greater strength than the ordinarydaycoach,thusgivinggreatersecurity to the passenger in case of accident. Certain objections exist to these cars as now generally constructed, among which may be named the highly-inflammable nature of the materials from which they are built, rendering them very liable to take fire from the breaking of the lamps or disarrangement of the heating appliances in case of collision orderailment. Another objection is that the several sleepingsections are only separated from the common aisle through the middle of the car by curtains, thus destroying that privacy so desirable among cultivated people, and leaving their property to a great extent exposed to the inroads of thieves and other dishonest persons.

To obviate these objections,and at the same time produce a car that shall have greater strength to resist collision and other accidents without an increase of weight, is the special object of this invention; and the invention consists in the improvements in the car and the partitions by means of which the'several sections forming the sleepingcompartments are inclosed and separated from each other and from the central aisle through the car.

In the accompanying drawings the letters of reference indicate like parts in the different fig ures Figure 1 being a horizontal section showtion.

8 is a sectional view of the monitor top, illustrating the construction and arrangement of the ventilating apparatus. Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal and a transverse section of the movable partitions rolled up.

In the construction of this car I prefer to use the tubular metallic car-frame and trucks shown and described in my Patent No; 285,675,

. granted on the 25th day of September, 1885,

said car-frame being covered with an incombustible and non-conducting preparation of as'bestus or other material possessing similar properties, although it will be understood that I do not confine myself to a car constructed in this manner, asthe improved partitions may be applied ,to a car constructed in the ordinary manner with good results.

In the drawings, A A represent the longitudinal tubes of the framework of the car, and B B the transverse frames, composed of groups of tubes, some of which are bent into a .reetangular form correspondingwith the outer surface of a transverse 'section'of said calgwhile the others are bent into circles of a little greater diameter than itswidth, so that theyshall project far enough from the sides to form guards for the windows and a protection to-the covering of the car-sides;

The interior of the car is divided into sections 0 O,'each of which forms a sleepingcompartment at night or state-room by day, if the occupants desire such privacy; or by allowing the partitions D D-to roll up they are thrown open to the central aisle, and'become a part of the open car. Each of the sections 0C is provided with seats and sleeping berths constructed and operated in any of the wellknown methods now in use, as any of them may be arranged to fit the sections and not interfere with the operation of the rolling parti- These'partitions D are formed from a series of narrow strips or slats, act, of a length equal to the height of the partition, and each united to a flexible backing of strong canvas, wire-cloth, or other suitable material possessing sufficient flexibility to allow the rolling of the whole partition forming the divisions be tween the two sections and the aisle into a solid roll.

To provide suitable means for rolling up the partitions I attach to the longitudinal tubes A in the upper part of the car-frame, or to any other suitable support in that location, down-- wardly-projeetingjournals or pintles b, which receive and form a bearing upon which revolves the upper end of the tubular shaft E, the lower end of which shaft is carried in a socket, b, sunk into and secured to the carfloor F. 'ithin this tubular shaft is placed the spiral spring 0, its upper end firmly secured to the pintle Z1 and its lower end to the shaft, so that when the spring is wound up it shall have a tendency to rotate the shaft and wind up t-hepartition thereon, one end of said partition being firmly secured to the shaft. These shafts E are placed at proper distances from each otherbetween the windows and adj acent to the sides of the car, so that when the partitions are wound upon them they shall be entirely out of the way, not interfering with the use of the car as an open coach. In order to guide the partitions when drawn out, and hold them firmly in position, grooves d d are formed in the fioorin the track itis desired to have the partitions follow and occupy when drawn out. The lower ends of the slats a rest in this groove, and their upper ends are-secured and controlled in their movements and position by running in a similar groove formed in the guides G, secured in place by pendants d, attached to the ear-roof. From this 0011- struction it will be apparent that when it is desired to inelose a section and separate it from the rest of the car it is only necessary to take hold of the knob e, attached to the free end of the partition, and draw it along the groove until the section is inclosed, where it may be secured by a bolt dropping into a socket in the floor, or other suitable means. When it is desired to open the section, the fastening being released, the spring 0 rotates the shaft E and winds up the partition.

As it is not always desirable to release the partition and allow it to roll back when a person wishes to enter or leave the section, I provide a door, D, which is placed in that part of the partition adjacent to the aisle when the partition is drawn out. This door is formed of slats united to a flexible backing in the same manner as the rest of the partition, the preferred method of construction being to form the door and partition as a whole and then cut the door therefrom. In order to give the door the necessary stiffness I attach by a pivotal connection to the central slat two or more cross-pieces, w, whieh,when the partition is to be rolled up, are turned into a vertical position, so that they stand parallel with the strips a, in which position they offer no impediment to the rolling up of the partition; but when the door is in use they are turned to a horizontal position and effectually stiffen the door,

so that it may be opened or shut like any ordinary door. A suitable bolt or other fastening device is supplied-for securing it when closed, so that the occupants of the section or compartment may be secure from all intrusion.

Compartments II H, for toilet and other pu rposes, are formed at the end of the carby means of partitions constructed in theordinarymanner, and are supplied with the fixtures needed by the passengers for such purposes.

In order to afford proper ventilation, the sides I of the monitor top are pierced with oval openings h h, in which are fitted the valves k k, turning on pivots '17. These valves may be made of one piece of material, or they may consist of an oval frame filled with glass, the last-named form being preferred as giving more light to the car and opportunity for ornament by filling the frames with partly-colored glass. To each of these valves is rigidly attached an arm, m, projecting toward the center line of the car and pivoted at the extremity opposite the valve to a rod, L. This rod extends nearly the whole length of the ear and operates all the valves on one side of the monitor top simultaneously, a similar rod, L, being connected with the valves on the opposite side and operating them in the same manner. In order to afford a ready means of operating these rods, hand-levers, as N, are pivoted at their upper ends to the car-roof and provided with a handle at their lower ends, being intermediately connected with the rods L by links 0, so that by moving one of the hand-levers all the ventilating-valves on that side of the car are operated at the same time.

I am aware that it is not new to use a rolling partition, or one composed of slats folding together, in sleeping-ears, for the purpose of separating the compartments from each other, and do not, therefore, broadly claim the same as my invention.

Having thusdescribed my invention, Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. As an improvement in railway sleepingcars, thewvertical flexible partitions formed of united slats capable of being rolled up, and when unrollcd each inelosing one side andone end of a sleeping section or compartment, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improvement in sleeping-cars, the flexible partitions adapted to inclose one end and one side of a compartment, mounted upon a vertical spring-revolved shaft placed adjacent to the sides of the car, between the win dows, thejournals of said shaft connected with the top and floor of the car, as set forth.

3. As an improvement in railway sleepingcars, the flexible partitions mounted upon vertical spring-revolved shafts, in combination Il's with guidin ggrooves for said partitions formed in the car-floor, said grooves extending around one end and the side of a section, as specified.

4. As an improvement in railway sleepingcars, the flexible partitions mounted upon vertical spring-revolved shafts, in combination with the guiding-grooves for said partitions formedin'the car-floor and in a suspended guide-piece, as set forth.

5. As an improvement in sleeping-cars, the flexible partitions provided with doors to allow occupants of the section ingress or egress without movement of the partition, substantially as set forth.

6. As an improvement in sleeping-cars, the flexible partitions having flexible doors provided with pivoted cleats for rendering said doors- .rigid when desired, substantially as specified.

7. As an improvement in sleeping-cars, the 20 compartments 0 0, formed by flexible partitions engaging with a groove in the floor and guide at the top of the car, in combination with the ventilating-valves placed in the roof above each of said compartments to ventilate 2 5 the same, as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I hereby affix my signature in v the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. rosr.

Witnesses: M. V. E. CHANDLER,-

M. A. BALLINGER. 

